Politico's Mike Allen reported last week that friends of Fox News chief Roger Ailes are urging him to run for president. Ailes is laughing off the idea, saying the country needs "fair and balanced" news more than ever and, besides, he couldn't afford the pay cut. Would Ailes stand a chance if he ran?

No way. It's too silly to even discuss: Roger Ailes "will never, ever be president," said Alex Koppelman in Salon. "The idea is ridiculous on its face." Ailes has a "position of power at Fox News," but he's still just "an acerbic right-wing hack" with "zero public profile." But Ailes isn't the bad guy in this story -- that honor belongs to the Politico guy "who somehow managed to turn an obviously bogus idea into a would-be legitimate piece of reportage.""Fox's Roger Ailes as president? Not bloody likely"

Why not? He's a political powerhouse: Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped into politics from the silver screen, said Jacob Heilbrunn in National Interest. Why couldn't Roger Ailes make the same leap from the "plasma screen"? "He's already shaken up the Obama presidency," and "no media figure has personally had a bigger impact on American politics in the past two decades than Ailes." If he runs, Barack Obama might have his hands full."Roger Ailes for president"

Who knows? He'd certainly frighten Democrats: "If the mere existence of Fox News scares some liberals," said Capitol Hill Blue, "the idea of Roger Ailes, founder and CEO of the right-wing network, running for office against President Barack Obama in 2012 should send them screaming into the streets.""Fox News CEO Roger Ailes as president?"